Getting Hotter (25 page)

Seth felt all the color drain from his face.

“Oh,” Miranda said quickly, “They’re not—”

“They’re not my kids,” he blurted out.

An embarrassed look washed over their server’s face. “Oh gosh. I’m sorry. I just assumed…”

“They’re not my kids,” he repeated, his tone much sharper than he’d intended.

Next to him, he felt Miranda stiffen.

“My mistake. Sorry about that,” the waitress said before flouncing off, red-faced.

Silence descended over the booth.

Seth cleared his throat. “Miranda…”

“Wow. Twice.” Bitterness lined her tone. “Did you really need to deny it
twice
, Seth?”

Fucking hell. That second round of “they’re not my kids” had definitely been unnecessary. He’d just gotten caught off-guard. To be mistaken for a father…the twins’ father…a shiver of fear ran through him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I was just trying to make it clear that—”

“Oh, you made things very clear.”

“I’m sorry for saying it twice, okay? I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Is it so awful that we were mistaken for a family?”

He faltered. “No. It’s just…”

“It’s just what?”

Shit, he needed a cigarette. And his head was killing him—why was this restaurant so fucking
loud
?

She shook her head, her hazel eyes flickering with…with an expression he couldn’t for the life of him make out. “This was a bad idea,” she said softly.

“Miranda…”

“You know I’m right. It was a bad idea. We’re not a family, Seth. You’re not my children’s father. You’re the man I’m—” her voice became a whisper, “—fucking.”

If he weren’t already battling confusion, unease and a strange jolt of terror, he would’ve been offended by the tiny twinge of scorn that accompanied that last word.

“So let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this is anything more than what it is,” she said with a weary sigh. “Let’s just stick to what we’re good at, Seth. Sex, and nothing more.”

Before he could respond, Jason and Sophie raced back to the booth, holding up the gumballs they’d gotten.

“Mom, look, I got a
pink
one!” Sophie gushed.

“And mine was blue.” Jason’s bottom lip dropped out. “I wanted red but blue’s okay, I guess.”

Neither child picked up on the tension between Seth and their mother.

But it was there.

Boy, was it ever.

Chapter Fourteen

One week later

“God. That was nice. I needed that.” With a contented sigh, Miranda slipped out of bed and stalked naked toward the chair on which she’d left her clothes.

Seth watched from the bed, struggling with a wave of disappointment. She was getting dressed? Already? Well, maybe it wasn’t
that
fast, he amended when he saw the time on the clock. They’d been in his bedroom for nearly an hour.

But still.

Christ, she was the most graceful woman he’d ever met. She even made the act of putting on a bra and panties look like a sensual dance. Another disappointed burst went off in his chest. He didn’t want her to go. He never wanted her to go.

He just didn’t fucking know how to ask her to stay.

If he hadn’t blown it that evening at the pizza place, things wouldn’t have had to change. They’d still be doing the whole morning-sex-and-breakfast thing instead of these super-hurried quickies. Still be lying tangled in each other’s arms after recovering from their orgasms instead of Miranda jumping out of bed to find her clothes.

Her eagerness to hurry off after he’d made her come brought a pang of unhappiness. He hated this new wham-bam-thank-you-Seth mentality of hers. He felt…used.

Aw, poor baby Seth bitching about how a woman wants no-strings sex from him.

“So this is really happening,” he said, feeling edgy as hell and unable to hide it.

Miranda pulled her tank top over her head. “What is?”

“You’re leaving.”

She shot him a
duh
look. “Yes, because I have to go to work.”

“Not for another hour.”

“I told you, I want to grab something to eat before I head over to the club.”

“And I offered to cook you dinner here.”

“And I said I appreciated that, but it’s not part of the deal.” She rolled her eyes. “Should we recap the conversation again, or is it going to stick this time?”

Swallowing the strange lump of misery that rose in his throat, Seth hopped off the bed and slipped into his boxers. “No, it’s fine. I forgot that dinner isn’t part of the, you know,
deal
.” He put on pants and a T-shirt, then marched to the door. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

Her voice stopped him before he could leave the room. “Seth.”

Turning around, he met her eyes. “Yeah.”

With a faint smile, she eliminated the distance between them and looped her arms around his neck. Her expression softened as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I had fun tonight.”

“Did you?” he murmured.

She brushed those sexy lips over his in another fleeting kiss. “I did.” Her lips peppered kisses down the column of his neck. “I had a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad.” He shivered when she nibbled his earlobe, and his hands slid down to cup her ass.

“So please stop treating the word
deal
like it’s an expletive.” She skimmed her fingertips over his bottom lip. “This is a good deal, Seth. We’re making each other come almost every other night. No promises, no hassles, just a lot of awesome sex. How are you unsatisfied?”

“I’m not. I am satisfied.” He forced a nonchalant shrug. “No promises, no hassles. That’s exactly how I like it, babe.”

To his displeasure, she nodded in agreement. “Me too. Well, in this case at least.” She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “I’ve gotta go.”

Seth walked her to the front door, doing his best not to dwell on that last zinger she’d left him with.
Well, in this case at least
. What did that mean? Did she mean that if she were fucking some other man, she would
want
the promises? So it was just
his
promises she wasn’t interested in?

So many conflicting emotions raged in his gut that he didn’t even know which to focus on.

“Miranda, wait, before you go.” Dylan suddenly appeared in the hallway, his blond hair damp from the shower, a white towel draped around his trim hips.

“What’s up?” she asked as she slipped into her sneakers.

“Are the twins in school tomorrow?”

“Yes, until three. Why?”

Dylan’s expression turned sheepish. “What do you think about me hanging out with them tomorrow? Maybe going out for ice cream or something? I could pick them up from kindergarten if you want.”

Miranda looked incredibly confused by the request, and when she glanced at Seth, he gave her a fucked-if-I-know look. He had no idea what to make of it either. He studied his roommate’s face for signs of concussion or intoxication, and found none. But he couldn’t rule it out, either.

“You want to take my kids out for ice cream?” Miranda finally said.

“Yeah, if it’s cool with you.”

“Um. Well. Why?”

“What can I say? I miss the little dudes,” Dylan said, bestowing on her that boyish smile that Seth had seen him use to seduce countless of women.

Sure enough, some of Miranda’s hesitation melted in the face of that smile. “You miss my kids?” she echoed.

Dylan nodded. “I had a lot of fun with them when you guys stayed here. And I saw on the news today that the weather is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, so I thought, hey, maybe the twins would enjoy hanging out.”

Seth didn’t bother masking his mistrust. He had no idea what his roommate was up to, but this was strange as hell. In fact, lately
strange
seemed to be the norm with Dylan. Dude was bitchier than usual, hardly ever left the house, and now he wanted to spend an afternoon with a couple of six-year-olds he wasn’t even
related
to?

If Seth didn’t have complete confidence that Dylan would never harm a hair on a child’s head, he might’ve given Miranda a slight shake of the head, as in,
Say no. Now.
But Seth trusted Dylan with his life. Whatever this was about, he knew it wouldn’t result in Miranda’s kids getting hurt.

“Well, I guess that would be okay,” Miranda said, still looking baffled. “I can call the school tomorrow and let them know you’ll be picking them up instead of me. Unless you want me to come along…?” She let the question hang.

Dylan flashed those pearly whites again. “Up to you, honey. I figured you’d enjoy having the afternoon off to go shopping or take a nap or do whatever. You know, treat yourself. But if you don’t trust me with your children’s safety, I understand.”

Miranda snorted. “My children are probably safer with you than they are with me. You’re a SEAL, for Pete’s sake. And look at you.”

Seth did not enjoy the way Miranda’s hazel eyes roamed the broad expanse of Dylan’s smooth chest. He glared at his roommate in an unspoken order to go put on a fucking shirt—and pants, damn it—but the guy remained completely unfazed.

“What time are they done school?” Dylan asked.

“Three. I’ll text you the address. You’ll have to show your ID to the school secretary and sign the twins out. It’s the school policy when someone other than a parent picks up a child.”

“No problem. Can’t wait to see them.”

“They’ll be thrilled to see you too,” Miranda said with a warm smile.

Seth found himself bristling again. If Dylan’s plan had been to come out here and present himself as the sweetest, most thoughtful man on the planet while reducing Seth to antichild, pond-scum level in Miranda’s eyes, then he’d totally succeeded.

“And if you decide not to join us, I’m sure Masterson here would appreciate the company,” Dylan said, proving that he always had a fellow soldier’s back. “Poor Seth gets really lonely sometimes.”

Oh Jesus. Why did Dylan Wade make it so difficult to think bad thoughts about him?

Asshole.

“Oh no. Then I might have to come over and hold his hand for a bit.” Miranda’s expression made it clear that she’d be holding a lot more than his hand.

She gave Seth a quick kiss on the cheek and then she was gone, leaving him free to interrogate his roommate.

“You want to
hang out
with her
kids
?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong with that? Those little dudes are tons of fun.”

Seth crossed his arms over his chest. “Should I be worried about websites putting a little green dot over our house to indicate there’s a sexual predator living here?” he cracked.

“Fuck you.”

“Says the man who just arranged a date with two children while wearing a towel. Seriously, what the hell was that about?”

After a beat, Dylan released a breath. “I have an idea for the birthday present, all right?”

“No clue what you’re talking about, man.”

“Miranda’s birthday is on Saturday.”

“It is?”

His roommate raised his eyebrows. “Do you know anything about the woman you’re screwing, bro?”

Now it was his turn to say, “Fuck you.” He trailed after Dylan, whose bare feet slapped the hardwood floor on the way to the master bedroom.

Dylan dropped the towel the moment he entered his bedroom, but Seth was too unsettled by this entire discussion to pay much attention to his roommate’s bare ass.

“Anyway, remember when they were crashing here after the flood and the kids kept bursting into tears every other second?”

“Yeah,” he said warily.

“Well, turns out they weren’t just crying for the hell of it. They were working on a birthday present for Miranda—they drew all these pictures for her, and they were organizing them into a book. I think their teacher was supposed to help them bind it.”

Seth’s brows dipped in a frown. “How do you know all this?”

“They told me.” Dylan put on a pair of sweatpants and strode to his closet to find a shirt.

“They told you,” Seth echoed.

“Yep. Those kids love me, bro. Maybe because, unlike you, I don’t treat them like I’d rather have my back waxed than spend time with them.” A shrug. “They were pretty devastated, especially Jason. He was hiding the pictures under his bed and everything got destroyed in the flood.”

“So you’re taking them out for ice cream to cheer them up?”

“No. See, that’s the thing.” The guy was practically beaming now. “I was telling Jen about what a bummer it was that the present got ruined, and she came up with an idea. Sophie and Jason won’t have time to redo all those drawings, but Jen offered to take their picture. You’ve seen her photographs, right? They’re fucking amazing. She said she’ll take a whole bunch of photos of the kids and they could use them to make a new book. Good idea, right?”

Seth stared at his buddy.

“What?” Dylan said defensively.

“You liked those kids so much that you actually spent time thinking about the birthday present they were making for their mother?” he said in a dull voice.